LISA CHESTERS:
It’s also an important milestone in Bendigo here, particularly in this particular precinct to officially open the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic and I’m so proud to have the Treasurer of Australia, a good friend of mine, Jim Chalmers here to do that official opening. I acknowledge also too all of our amazing health professionals that are here, our doctors, our nurses, our administrators, people who do bookings, we’ve got [indistinct] here. Thank you very much for joining us the CEO of Bendigo Health, the Primary Healthcare Network they’ve also joined us here today. And I know that we are having a press conference in the middle of what is a very busy day here at Bendigo Primary Care. Thank you for hosting us.
This has been a long time coming for us here in Bendigo. As I was telling the Treasurer, it was the former Treasurer, Wayne Swan, who actually funded the initial funding for this building to be built. It was built under the former Labor government’s GP Super Clinic funding model and the idea back then, and I’m telling the former federal Member for Bendigo’s story Steve Gibbons, and [indistinct] who also served on the board for a while with the Primary Healthcare Network. The vision was for always for this to be a Medicare‑funded Urgent Care Clinic. The ability to do that after‑hours care, the ability to bulk bill where it wasn’t about your credit card, it was about your Medicare card, making sure that everybody in our postcode could have access to that primary care that they needed after‑hours.
So, it took us a long time to get here. There was a period when we were in Opposition where we had funding cuts to Medicare, it made it very hard for doctors to bulk bill and very hard for clinics to stay open. But the investment that we’ve seen in Medicare has really turned that around and has brought us to where we are today. So, it’s a proud moment for us in Bendigo. It’s a proud moment for our health precinct, but it’s a really proud moment for us in federal Labor. We’re committed to Medicare and we’re reinvesting and strengthening Medicare each and every day, which is why I’m really proud to introduce the Treasurer of Australia here to officially open the Medicare Urgent Care part of this clinic. So welcome back to Bendigo, Jim.
JIM CHALMERS:
Thanks, Lisa. It’s very kind of you, Lisa, to invite me here and to introduce me to all of these healthcare super stars at the Urgent Care Clinic here in Bendigo for a very, very proud day for your wonderful local community, and for all of the people who are providing just first‑class healthcare for people of this community and the surrounding areas as well. It’s a real honour to be here as Treasurer. It’s a real honour to have funded so many of these Urgent Care Clinics around Australia. In our 3 Budgets we found $720 million to fund Urgent Care Clinics – 76 of them so far – including this one that we open today.
One of the things that is really terrific about Urgent Care Clinics is the way that they help healthcare providers in communities like this one work as a team, take pressure off the local hospital, work with each other to provide the best standard of care that we can for the families and pensioners and people of communities like this one here in Bendigo.
This one’s got a terrific vibe to it, a really amazing vibe to it, because you can tell the teamwork that makes it all work here in Bendigo. As I understand it, more than 800 presentations already. It’s only been open for a month or so, taking the pressure off Bendigo Hospital and providing a bit of peace of mind too for local families and local pensioners and others, knowing that they’ve got another option that they can come to when they’re looking for Healthcare and where they can stay out of the emergency department if that’s possible.
Most importantly a massive thank you to all of you. It’s a really proud day, a really exciting day. Before we unveil the plaque, I just have to make some broader points as well. We’ve also got a national announcement that’s happening today and so I just wanted to touch on that.
One of our motivations when it comes to the billions of dollars we’re investing in strengthening Medicare, and the $720 million we’re investing as part of that in Urgent Care Clinics is helping people with the cost of living. Out‑of‑pocket health costs are one of the big pressures on household budgets, and so what we’re trying to do as an Albanese Labor government is to try and take some of the sting out of these cost‑of‑living pressures that we know people are feeling right around Australia in communities like this one.
So out‑of‑pocket health costs, but also the tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, cheaper medicines, cheaper early childhood education, which is a real passion of Lisa’s, more rent assistance, getting wages moving again, fee‑free TAFE, strengthening Medicare, all of these things are about easing cost‑of‑living pressures. Easing cost‑of‑living pressures are the number one priority of the Albanese Labor government. That’s why we’re investing so substantially in easing out‑of‑pocket health costs, and that’s one of the reasons why Urgent Care Clinics are so important.
But today we’re taking another step as well. Today we are announcing the next steps in banning unfair trade practices. A lot of businesses in our community do the right thing and they’ve got nothing to worry about, but we’re also seeing the troubling escalation in dodgy trading practices, whether it’s the way that people find it hard to get out of subscriptions, the way prices increase while people are making a transaction, the farming of people’s information, dodgy marketing practices like pretending that there’s a limited time that people can buy something online.
There are a whole bunch of practices that we are worried about, which put additional pressure on people when it comes to the cost of living. So, we want to ban unfair trading practices. We’ve put in train the steps to do that today. Yesterday we talked about our intention, our willingness to ban surcharges on the use of debit cards. People shouldn’t have to pay huge fees to use their own money. Yesterday’s announcement was about debit cards, today we’re talking about banning unfair trading practices. This is all part of our efforts to deal with or address these cost‑of‑living pressures that people are under.
From time‑to‑time people will say to us: how big a difference can you make in Medicare out‑of‑pocket health costs? How big a difference can you make with all of this competition policy, empowering the ACCC, banning surcharges on debit cards, cracking down on dodgy trading practices? The truth is we are coming at this cost‑of‑living challenge from every conceivable angle. Not with one or 2 policies, but the highest priority of this Albanese government dealing with cost‑of‑living pressures that we know people are facing in housing, in out‑of‑pocket health costs and in other areas as well. The highest priority for our government, and that’s why these Urgent Care Clinics are so important as well, as part of our efforts.
Okay, tricky questions to Lisa, easy questions to me. I’m in your hands.
JOURNALIST:
I was just wondering if I start on just why – or if there is any particular urgent need that you’ve seen for this place [indistinct] prior to this opening? Was there an urgent need?
CHESTERS:
Yeah, definitely. This is one of the clinics that was funded for a short period by the state Labor government, and then our Health Minister – Mark Butler – let me know that negotiations were on that the federal government would take it over as part of its Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. We know that there had been pressure on EDs. Any parent that’s had to go up there with an urgent issue knows the wait times. Locally we knew it anecdotally, we also knew it through the data coming through that there was a lot of pressure on EDs. We also knew because the previous government cut so much money out of Medicare – and froze the Medicare rebate and froze the Medicare incentive – that doctors weren’t doing after‑hours services any more. So, the need was there, the data was there and that’s why I’m really proud that our government has prioritised this clinic, coming on board with the federal fund and becoming a federally funded Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
CHALMERS:
I really want to pay tribute to Lisa Chesters here. Strengthening Medicare is one of Lisa’s reasons for being and one of our government’s reasons for being, and we know from Lisa’s advocacy for this local community just how important it is to build an Urgent Care Clinic here to take some of the pressure off the hospital. There’s an urgent need in a lot of communities around Australia for more bulk billing options and more Medicare‑supported doctors, and that’s why we’re building 76 of these and providing $720 million to keep them running. It’s obvious in communities like these the need, and we’re delighted to see the way that all the different parts of the health system are working together to make it a success already. It’s only been open for a month, but already hundreds of people who would otherwise be in the ED at the hospital are coming here to get first‑class treatment and that’s a great thing.
JOURNALIST:
Just on another local health issue, and then we can go to other matters. We got word earlier this month that Bendigo Health has flagged job cuts at some of the hospitals, 5,000‑odd staff. The Australian Nursing Midwifery Federation says there’s a major restructure but they understand 9 full‑time clinical nursing jobs will be lost. What do you say to those staff who believe there isn’t any investment into expanding the health workforce by the federal government?
CHESTERS:
It’s one of those ones we’ll have to take on notice. It really is a state government matter but what I will say is that I know that the state and federal government are constantly in discussions about how can we better fund our health and hospitals sector. It is something that I know that they’re working through methodically. They’ve engaged the unions in doing this in a fair and transparent process. It’s not new, but it really is one that the state government is working closely with the Bendigo Health on.
JOURNALIST:
What’s the difference between a federal Urgent Care Clinic and the state‑run Priority Care Clinic?
CHESTERS:
The federal government pays the bills for a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. That’s essentially the big difference. Which is our role, it’s primary healthcare and it fits within the broader GP, Medicare scope of practice.
JOURNALIST:
And how – what does it work when a patient comes in? How do they present? What’s the process?
CHESTERS:
You can call, the majority of patients are encouraged to make a phone call to book themselves in. They first are triaged by the nurse or the team that answers the call. If it’s considered to be emergency, they’re encouraged to call an ambulance, 000, or go straight to EDs. But if it’s more an urgency care matter they make an appointment for them. They don’t have to be sitting here; they’re sent a reminder message and then just encouraged to be here about 20 minutes prior to the appointment and I’m hoping I got that right. Not that I’ve had to use the service yet. It’s because we use online, because we’re all used to using the phones and the booking system, it’s well organised. On the busier days it’s 10 til 10. Critical being that after‑hours after‑school opportunity, over the weekends. And it’s a service that’s proving to be very popular because it is where you can get a bulk‑billed GP appointment within 24 hours of needing one.
JOURNALIST:
Just on the announcement today, regarding putting an end to hidden in‑ticket purchases, like you promised to consider debit card surcharges, this is a promise that will mean there’ll be consultation down the road. When it’s possible your government may not be in power next year, why not just act now rather than push [indistinct] down the track?
CHALMERS:
Consultation is a good thing. We want to make sure that as we crack down on excessive fees and we crack down on dodgy trade practices that we’re doing that in a way that looks after the interests of consumers and small businesses, and makes sure that there aren’t unintended consequences. We’ve shown a real enthusiasm, a real willingness, a real commitment to crack down on the sorts of fees and practices which risk ripping people off. We have empowered and funded the ACCC to do their really important work and we’ve flagged the next steps that we’re taking when it comes to this. But I don’t think we should see consultation as a bad thing, consultation’s a good thing. We’re a government that works through issues in a considered and a methodical but ultimately in an impactful way. We know that people are at risk here when it comes to anti‑competitive behaviour and dodgy behaviour, and fees that they increasingly can’t afford, and so we’re acting on their interests and we’re making sure that we get it right.
JOURNALIST:
Look, I just want to confirm which industries the government are wanting to focus on in this crackdown. Are you looking at live music? There’s been some discussion about gym subscriptions.
CHALMERS:
We’re talking about a wide range of practices but including subscription traps – where it’s really hard to get out of a subscription, that happens across a number of different sectors. Drip pricing where there are hidden fees throughout the stages of a purchase. There are manipulative online practices, including where there’s a sense of urgency like a countdown timer to make people make rash decisions about what they want to buy. We’re worried about dynamic pricing which is where, during the actual course of the transaction the price keeps escalating. We’re worried about businesses which ask customers for too much information, in some cases much more than is necessary to buy the good or the service. We’re also worried about those instances where it’s hard to contact a business if you haven’t got the product that you were looking for or you had some other question after sale. These are the sorts of issues that we’re looking at. That obviously has relevance to a whole range of sectors – particularly those available for online purchasing. We’re not taking a very specific sector‑specific approach here. We’re looking at all of these potentially dodgy practices and making sure we can rub them out where we can.
JOURNALIST:
Given lock‑in subscriptions are a fundamental part of some business models, like gyms, how will you stop them, those businesses from being shuttered down completely?
CHALMERS:
We obviously want to see a healthy, profitable business sector but those profitable businesses can’t be making profits on the back of dodgy practices. Again, as a huge supporter of the business community in this country – and particularly the small business community, we want to make sure that there aren’t unintended consequences for the vast majority of businesses who do the right thing. But when some are tempted to do the wrong thing, we need to crack down on that. We need to make sure, when it comes to subscriptions, it can’t be incredibly easy to sign up to a subscription and incredibly difficult to get out of it. We get a lot of feedback about that. We want to work with the ACCC to crack down on that too.
JOURNALIST:
Look, do you think the timing of the PM’s decision to buy a new home is poor given an election is coming up? Many Australians are struggling to pay their mortgage or rent. I mean, look, I understand that the PM – people can buy property wherever they want, but I mean here, and particularly in Bendigo, we have a huge homelessness problem. The list of people waiting for social housing are at a 1,000 in this local area. I mean, what do you say especially to those who are sleeping rough and may see coverage of the PM buying such an expensive house on the Central Coast and, you know, wondering what this government’s on about?
CHALMERS:
I understand. The government’s highest priority is easing the cost of living and a big part of that is our housing agenda. Too many people are sleeping rough. Too few people can find an affordable place to rent or buy. It is becoming too hard for young people in particular to get a toehold in the housing market, and these are the motivations behind the $32 billion that we have invested through 3 Budgets in building more homes, to make it easier for more Australians to find a place to rent or find a place to buy. This is our highest priority, cost of living, and housing is an important part of that.
When it comes to the decisions that the Prime Minister has made about his own personal arrangements, I do understand that there’s a lot of interest in it. We do understand, I think collectively, that Prime Ministers decisions like this are scrutinised. I would say a couple of things about that. First of all, I work incredibly closely with the Prime Minister. I work as closely, if not more closely than anybody else. I have seen first‑hand for myself his 100 per cent focus on easing the cost of living and building more homes for Australians and making the right economic decisions for the right economic reasons. I cannot fault for one second his commitment to easing the cost‑of‑living pressures that people confront and building more homes as the important part of that.
He has made a decision with Jodie that they want to have a place which is closer to Jodie’s family. I think a lot of Australians would understand that aspect of it. Certainly, I understand that aspect of it. But his focus is on easing cost‑of‑living pressures for the whole country, I’ve seen that laser‑like focus for myself up close.
JOURNALIST:
In terms of the Urgent Clinics here Bendigo and other areas, is it going to help the healthcare system or is it just going to shuffle everything around and not take the pressure off?
CHALMERS:
It’s already taking pressure off the emergency department at Bendigo Hospital. One of the heartening things just meeting some of the professionals who have joined us today, some of them on their day off – we appreciate that – one of the things that really strikes you about this Urgent Care Clinic, and I’ve seen it in others, is the way that the whole health system, the whole local health ecosystem, works together to deliver great outcomes for people, often at the most stressful times.
Lisa and I know, as parents, it’s so stressful when your kid is sick or your mum, and you want to make sure that there are options and the heartening thing, the inspiring thing frankly, about the work in clinics like this one and emergency departments is the way that the place is working together. I just heard really quite a remarkable thing about where, if one place is quieter than the other, there are calls between different parts of the health system to make sure that we’re getting people through. That’s exactly as we want it. That means that every single cent of these hundreds of millions of dollars we’re investing in Urgent Care Clinics is money well spent.
JOURNALIST:
Those that don’t have access to these Urgent Care Clinics, as such, what do you say to them if they’re struggling to get into their GPs, their EDs are full, you know, what do they do?
CHALMERS:
We’re building as many as we can afford to build. There are 76 of these now, that’s what $720 million is buying. Every community would like one and we are doing our best to put one in as many communities as we can – here in Bendigo, in my hometown, right around Australia. We know that there’ll always be a need for more investment in health. We’re enthusiastic about that, billions and billions of dollars of investment in strengthening Medicare to help ease out‑of‑pocket costs to give people peace of mind when they’re sick or when their loved ones are sick, and people should expect that to continue for as long as there’s a federal Labor government working closely with state governments like this one.
JOURNALIST:
Australian birth rates declined once again. Is this becoming a problem for our economy?
CHALMERS:
That has been a long‑term trend and there are reasons for that, including good reasons for it. As I’ve said before, it can be expensive to have kids, and people make their own decisions for their own reasons. My job, working closely with Lisa and other colleagues, is to make sure that people can have the choice of whether to have more kids or not. Our investment in early childhood education, our investment in healthcare, paying superannuation on paid parental leave, all of these decisions that we’ve taken as a government working closely with Katy Gallagher, the Women’s Minister and others, is about making it easier for people to have more kids if they want to. But we know that affordability is a big part of that challenge and that’s why our cost‑of‑living help is so important as well.
JOURNALIST:
Is the government talking to Westpac about the repeated outages that we’ve been seeing this week, affecting mobile and online banking? I believe there’s been 3 already this week for customers of Westpac and St George, BankSA.
CHALMERS:
We have been speaking with Westpac about these really concerning developments. They have had a number of outages in recent days, and when something like that happens it enlivens the cybersecurity part of our government. In the last couple of years we’ve gotten much better at working with private sector entities like Westpac and others who are the subject of various – whether it’s denial of service or other kinds of interruptions. But we do work closely, whether it’s with the banks or the other businesses and organisations, to make sure that when something happens like this, as unwelcome as it is, that we’re responding when we can and that also we’re keeping each other informed as things develop.
JOURNALIST:
Does more need to be done to secure crucial services for bank customers? I mean this is not unusual.
CHALMERS:
Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times. We are seeing more of these sorts of interruptions in an economy which is becoming increasingly digital and where the technological changes so fast we are at risk of some of these sorts of interruptions. We’ve got a colleague now, Andrew Charlton, who’s been appointed to oversee cybersecurity in particular, working closely with Tony Burke. Our whole government sees it as an important part of our responsibilities to make sure that we catch up and keep up with developments in this space because we don’t want to see people inconvenienced by these kinds of interruptions.
JOURNALIST:
I have just one more question, sorry. Just on the economy and from a business perspective, here in Bendigo, there’s been significant issues in the CBD for some time: for‑lease signs on shop fronts, particularly in the Hargreaves Mall. We hear from businesses and ABC Central Vic, that your government is not doing enough for small businesses. What do you say to people in regional communities like Bendigo who despair in the fact that they may not be able to sustain businesses or even keep shop fronts open until the end of the year?
CHESTERS:
The problem with the Bendigo Mall is a perpetual problem that we’ve had for decades, and anybody who says otherwise hasn’t lived in Bendigo for a long time. It’s long been identified that the challenges sometimes relate to the landlords and who they’re trying to attract into the businesses in the mall. We’ve also had some other issues in the mall. There’s quite a bit of construction going on. But this is one of those ones which local chambers of commerce, Be.Bendigo has worked with the City of Greater Bendigo to bring them all together to talk about ‘what’s the vibe? What do we want? Who do we want to prioritise to be our businesses?’ It really starts with the landlords, it starts with Be.Bendigo and it starts with local government. In terms of the federal government support that we have with small business, we’re doing what we can, whether it be the instant asset write‑off, whether it be helping people with their payroll, whether it be investing where we can, supporting people with skills, helping with apprentices, making sure that we’ve got the skilled workers that we need coming through our TAFE. This is the federal government making sure that we stay in our lane and our responsibility. This issue comes up every federal election, every state election, every local government election. But the answer is the same. It comes back to what are the landlords, what’s the vision, how are they working with our local chambers of commerce about who we want to attract in businesses in the CBD.
JOURNALIST:
I mean, Bendigo itself are driving hard the tourism dollar here. We’ve seen major events here. We are seeing a comedy festival here. People are travelling to this town in particular and wanting to come to Bendigo to see the lovely, you know, Bloom Festival and a couple of days ago it was beautiful. But seeing – walking a couple of shops – blocks down the street, it’s not such a great story. I mean, I think that there obviously needs to be a whole – is there not a whole – isn’t there more – shouldn’t there be more approach to ensure that the city is at least pleasurable for people to visit?
CHESTERS:
It is and people love coming to Rosalind Park. What the state government has done in reducing train fares to get people into town’s been fantastic. Any day on the weekend I love getting stopped and people asking me for directions because it means they’re not local. It means we’ve got people coming in. Last weekend was a big example of that. This weekend coming. The town is abuzz on the weekend and that’s what you want to have happen. I’m sure the landlords will get together with Be.Bendigo and City of Greater Bendigo to work it out. We are seeing a revival and a change of shops coming into the mall. This is one of those issues where if you get too many people involved in the discussion, it takes longer.